10 Tempting Trigger Foods IBS Sufferers May Want to Avoid

Trash trail mix and ditch dried fruit.

Trail mixes are great lab experiments for growing bacteria and fungus because nuts, especially peanuts, grow mold and fruit provides a sugary meal for bacteria. This fact is especially true of the big bags that the whole family puts their unsterilized hands into. And the bulk bins at the store are worse; who knows who’s been ignoring the signs and dipping in for a snack?

The germ factor aside, the foods that make up trail mix can cause problems on their own. Nuts can produce gut-irritating shards if you don’t chew them completely and thoroughly.

The sugar in dried fruit draws fluids into the intestine and can cause a flushing of diarrhea because your body doesn’t distinguish fruit sugar from plain old sugar. Plus, some dried fruit still includes fruit skins, which are high in insoluble fiber and irritating to an IBS gut.